'The Little Prince' by Sanmartino is now on display in the tour of the Royal Apartments of the Royal Palace of Caserta. The statue portrays the firstborn son of Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina of Austria.
On the occasion of his birthday, the sculpture of little Carlo Tito finds its place in the room that, although he was not born, hosted the nuptial bed of Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina of Austria. The statue, in alabaster marble, depicting the Royal Infant Carlo Tito of Bourbon, a work by Giuseppe Sanmartino, is, in fact, from today on display in the visit itinerary of the Royal Apartments of the Royal Palace of Caserta.
The delicate portrait of the newborn, after the exhibition “The Little Prince. Giuseppe Sanmartino at the Royal Palace of Caserta” in the Palatine Chapel from 27 May to 11 September, is now visible in the Bedroom of Their Majesties, also known as the Bedroom of Ferdinand II, in the eighteenth-century wing of the palace.
Firstborn son of Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina of Austria, the little prince was born on a cold winter day on January 4, 1775 in the Royal Old Palace of Caserta, “whitened by copious snow”. To celebrate royal births, it was customary to make an official portrait of the Infante.
Queen Maria Carolina, as a vow of grace for having produced a male heir, wanted to consecrate the effigy of the Crown Prince to San Francesco di Paola, to whom she was particularly devoted, entrusting the execution of the portrait to the first sculptor of the Kingdom of Naples, Giuseppe Sanmartino, famous author of the Veiled Christ in the Sansevero Chapel. The life-size portrait was then translated into silver.
The location chosen for the Prince's portrait is not at all casual. Carlo Tito is now in the bedroom that belonged to his parents and, next to him, stands the painting by Girolamo Pompeo Batoni, Allegory of the death of the two sons of Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina. The heir to the throne to whom the hopes of the Kingdom had been entrusted, unfortunately, had a very short life. He died in 1778, at almost 4 years old, right in Caserta, in the Casino Vecchio di San Leucio.
To commemorate their death and that of their youngest princess Marianna, Queen Maria Carolina, “inconsolable mother”, commissioned their depiction to one of the most famous and sought-after artists of the eighteenth century, Batoni.
In the painting, rich in quotations from Raphael to Correggio, the delicate princess is depicted while, supported by an angel, she reaches her brother in heaven. Against the backdrop of the Gulf of Naples, with Vesuvius erupting, the girl is held back in vain by the Earth, while the personification of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies mourns her loss.
Article published on 4 January 2023 - 19:35
